DRUGINDUCED HALLUCINATION

   Also known as psychedelic hallucination. Both terms are used to denote a hallucination occurring after the use of a "psychoactive substance. The British anthropologist Richard Rudgley (b. 1961) defines psychoactive substances as "those that alter the state of consciousness of the user. These effects may range from the mild stimulation caused by a single cup of tea or coffee to the powerful mind-altering effects induced by hallucinogens such as LSD or certain mushrooms, in which profound changes may occur in the perception of time, space and self." Although many substances registered as therapeutics are also capable of producing hallucinations, the terms drug-induced hallucination and psychedelic hallucination tend to be used in the context of substances not intended primarily for therapeutic purposes.The number of known psychoactive substances is vast, and it is very likely that they constitute a mere fraction of the psychoactive substances naturally available and synthetically produceable. They are referred to by a wide variety of generic terms, including "hallucinogen, hallucinogenic drug, hallucinogenic substance, magicum, pseudohallucinogen, illusinogen, mysticomimetic, "psychedelic, psychedelic drug, psychedelic substance, psychotic, "psychotomimetic, "phantasticum, "eideticum, "deliriant, and "dissociative.

   References

   Nichols, D.E. (2004). Hallucinogens. Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 101(2), 131-181.

   Rätsch, Chr. (2005). The encyclopedia of psy-choactive plants. Ethnopharmacology and its applications. Translated by Baker, J.R. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press.

   Rudgley, R. (1998). The encyclopaedia of psy-choactive substances. London: Little, Brown and Company.